By: 永久浪客/Forever Vagabond
In an article on ST (‘Immigration has ruined my hometown‘, 3 Jul), a British citizen shook his head and lamented at just how much immigration has changed the landscape of his place in the past several years.
He pointed to shops and restaurants run by foreigners. “They’ve completely taken over,” he said.
He also blamed the increase in crimes to uncontrolled immigration.
The foreigners are willing to work for lower wages, and that has depressed wages, he added.
“They work very hard. I’m not decrying them working. I’m just saying the employers… have taken advantage of the cheap labour. These are the people who pull the price down.”
Their numbers have also strained public services.
The citizen noted that the foreigners are willing to pack themselves into the same space, often up to 10 in a three-bedroom house. Residents complain of noise and poorly kept houses.
He also felt abandoned by his government which he said it is not protecting the livelihoods of the citizens. He just hopes that change will come soon.
“I just can’t see where it’s going.”
Does it sound familiar with regard to what this citizen has said? You might think it must be a displaced PMET taxi uncle complaining about the situation in Singapore but it’s not.
The citizen is a 70-year-old man named Geoff Rylott, living in Boston of Lincolnshire, UK. He was complaining about the huge influx of Eastern European immigrants flooding his hometown due to the agreement of UK with EU.
Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians and Romanians now make up more than 10 per cent of the town’s population. That is why he voted for UK to leave EU. In his hometown, 70% of the people has voted to leave.
Nevertheless, the landscape Mr Rylott has described eerily resembles that of Singapore. In the case of Singapore, the situation is even more dire with foreigners make up almost 40% of the population.
Young Brits angry with elderly voters
After the EU referendum results were announced, the younger British people were blaming the older generations for the Brexit result.
Jack Lennard who graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in archaeology and anthropology said (http://www.vox.com/2016/6/24/
“For us, there will be no golden age of economic hope and glory,” he added.
Indeed, with UK out of EU, it will be harder for young Brits to work in any of the countries in Europe without a work visa. Previously, under the EU, they can easily go to any of the European countries to work, visa-free.
But of course in Singapore, it’s a different story. Whether one is young or old, he or she cannot simply walk into any of the first world countries to work without a work visa. It’s not as if Singaporeans can escape from competing with the cheaper foreign workers flooding here by simply leaving for, say, Australia to work, without facing any restrictions from the Australian government.